The Ghost Of You
by Alisha Winchester Collins
Summary: "Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?" - What if there was more to Harrison Wells than anyone would ever know? What if he had loved once and been loved in return? A Harrison-centric one shot fic! Completely AU!


**So... unexpected change of plans in my fanfic scheduling! Instead of finishing up the SnowWells fic I had in progress, I started work on this and here we are... a Harrison-centric story which has made me cry for the last hour or so... I don't do angst usually, and certainly have never taken it to this level, but once the idea came to mind, I couldn't shake it off... and there was also the challenges of writing a Future!Fic... sort of... this might seem like it's all over the place which is basically what my feels were going through... but I do hope you like it! I'll definitely get back to SnowWells soon enough! For now, all I can say is that this is a Harrison/OC pairing which does not necessarily involve Tess Morgan since we know absolutely nothing about her, but for the sake of putting a face to this nameless character, just picture Whedon alum, Amy Acker! &&& as I mentioned above, the story which takes place in the future is technically Harrison's past because for the sake of him being a time-traveler and all that, I went with setting the timeline around 2022-ish and 2014 which is present day on the show too! also, it's not mentioned in detail because I have _zero_ comic book knowledge but basically, think of the idea of "Crisis on Infinite Earths" with meta-humans getting kidnapped by unknown enemy forces and wars breaking out all across! That's it I guess... feel free to PM me any questions though! Enjoy? xD**

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><p><em>She was a vision in white seated by the window, looking like a porcelain doll as the first rays of sunrise bathed her in gold; when she turned around, the smile on her face only enhanced her beauty and that laughter which followed was like a melody come to life. She was a goddess who couldn't be stopped when her loved ones were in danger; the aura radiating from all around seemed to protect her as she fought through the chaos and madness; never once killing anything that stood in her way, but even as the enemy was incapacitated, they could see the warrior within her and trembled with fear. She was a light that glowed brightly in the night that surrounded everyone, spreading hope and promise and love and bringing a smile to even the most defeated person who stood up to fight once more. She was good, kind-hearted, someone who fought for peace and harmony, in a world where those words had ceased to exist, but could be made real again. She was life itself and in spite of her imperfections and flaws and weaknesses, there was always the belief that if someone as ordinary as her could become something extraordinary then the tide of war could change in the blink of an eye; that if there were to be a victory then it would be theirs and it would be possible only because of her. <em>

_Then the darkness had come... and as it destroyed everything in its wake... it had snatched her away... and everything was lost. She was gone. She was nothing but a memory. She was a dream. She was..._

Harrison's eyes snapped open as he bolted upright from his bed, breathing heavily and feeling disoriented for several seconds. He was awake now and well aware of his heart pounding against his chest but refused to close his eyes again; knowing that the nightmare would return as soon as he lay down. It took only a few minutes for him to calm the erratic nerves as he threw aside the blankets and swung his legs to the side, hands gripping the bed-frame until his knuckles turned white. The deep breaths he drew in slowly were still ragged, but this was part of the process... it would pass... eventually. In the meantime, Harrison knew that trying to sleep was pointless and so, he forced himself to stand up and walk over to the mirror where he saw his reflection staring back at him, looking like a mess. He hadn't bothered to wear anything other than a pair of black pants, which meant his upper-body was exposed and with the faint light of the moon shining through, it revealed all the scars that stretched across his chest. Staring at them just then, Harrison couldn't help but think back to what had woken him up only moments ago; it wasn't hard to remember how he had gotten each and every single one of the scars, but the one which stood out the most was a thin line etched directly above his heart. As he touched a hand there, all the memories of that incident came crashing back to him; he was forced to close his eyes in order to block everything from overwhelming his mind. If he concentrated hard enough, Harrison knew that he would be able to focus the thoughts towards the aftermath... when _she_ had found him and helped get the two of them back to safety.

A sad sigh escaped his mouth as he thought of her and somehow he felt that she was in the room with him; it wasn't something he could explain at all, not scientifically, logically, rationally... but Harrison knew he was right as soon as he opened his eyes. Standing just behind his left shoulder, he could see her as clearly as anything else in the room. She wore the same white dress from his dream and when he glanced down, he noticed that her hand was touching his which he hadn't moved from the scar. He managed a small smile and even though he didn't turn around to face her, everything felt a little better already, simply knowing that she was here was enough. They stood there, side by side for several minutes in a peaceful silence and Harrison couldn't help but remember the first time he had met her all those years ago.

_She was the one who saved his life that first night he'd gotten himself caught up in the midst of a heavy attack; he had been severely injured and if she hadn't crossed paths with him when she did, he may have been captured or... worse. For someone who didn't believe in miracles, Harrison remembered thinking that whoever this woman was, she had to be a guardian angel. They'd retreated to the shadows and after miles of walking as fast as they could given his condition, Harrison found that she had led him to a sanctuary where they were safe. It took all night, but she was able to patch him up to the very best of her abilities and he had thanked her before parting ways; neither of them knowing that they would see each other fairly soon and over those weeks, he would end up saving her too. From the moment they'd laid eyes on one another, their lives had changed forever and in time, Harrison knew that if it meant him getting hurt was what led her to enter his life, he would never do anything differently._

The cool breeze which blew in through the balcony windows which had been left open broke his reverie of that memory and Harrison opened his eyes as he finally moved to look at her, seeing that smile playing across her lips made him smile in return. She stood in at the very center of his bedroom, barely a few feet away and judging from the look on her face, he guessed what she was thinking; striding over to close the distance between them, Harrison didn't need words to understand that she wanted to dance with him once more. It was just like that evening when they had danced together, the day he had kissed her for the first time.

_They had spent a whole day trying to help as many people to evacuate the city as they could before retiring to Harrison's newly acquired quarters; he lived in a safe haven where the others like him could be found - fighters, refugees, survivors, people who may have been something else in their life but were now part of something bigger. The best part of this building was that at any given time, the roof was always empty; most attacks were ground-based and so everyone mostly stayed closer to the lower levels. Harrison seized the opportunity of a free night without any work to spend with her and just before the sun had started to set, he brought her up to the rooftop and as silly as it sounded, he had asked her to dance; this was a rare moment he wouldn't give up for the world, a chance to spend more time getting to know this young and amazing woman. She did raise an eyebrow before laughing until she realized that he was being extremely serious about the request and gave in to him. He had taken her hand in his and rested one against her waist, feeling the soft touch tickling his skin as she placed her other hand on his shoulder; there was no music playing, but even with only sounds of the wind all around, Harrison knew some very basic steps as he swayed with her in a perfect sync, going as far as twirling her around, before bringing both his hands around her back. She had wrapped her arms across his neck and rested her head against his chest, listening to the slow beats of his heart; all this time, she did not know that Harrison had timed everything to near-perfection for when she looked up to gaze into those blue eyes of his, the second he kissed her deeply, standing there under the sky, the sunset reflected off them both in a reddish-gold glow. This was the first of many kisses to come and Harrison cherished each of them just as much as he did that evening._

When Harrison suddenly felt as if he had lost sight of her once their dance came to an end, he glanced around everywhere, searching for her, wondering where she could have gone, he didn't realize the intensity of relief that filled his heart when he saw her... at the far end of his room, near the dresser. Walking towards her, he noticed that she had discovered something very precious that belonged to her; Harrison knew she was very good at finding things which he kept hidden away until the time was right and he remembered that it had been weeks since he'd laid eyes on his most important possession - her necklace. The pendant was a tear-drop shaped Rose Quartz resting upon a gold chain; his gift which he had given the night that they spent together.

_Six months. They had been together for six months now and during every single day, Harrison couldn't remember being so happy; despite the dangerous conditions that they lived day in and day out, just knowing that she was by his side through it all was all the happiness he could have ever asked for. The mission they were on meant it was impossible to have any celebration, even a simple one that Harrison had thought of; the two of them had temporarily shifted base to a separate camp where it was easier to monitor all activity of the enemy as they attempted to discover where the Specials were being kept captive. That day had been surprisingly eventful and although there was a high possibility that their new location could be unraveled at any moment, the night proved to bring them a stroke of good luck when all the guards were called back and no patrols were seen for many hours; Harrison knew the risks they faced by remaining at the camp with just her, but since she wasn't ready to give up, he knew that staying back was the best chance they had of seeing this mission through. Fortunately, the camp did not entail them having to sleep outdoors in a tent and so when the two of them retired for the night, he had wished her a Happy Anniversary and presented the necklace, wearing it for her himself; this was a small token but she had loved it so much that she promised him she would never remove it. And when she kissed him like she never had before, all those months of passion bubbled up to the surface as he carried her to their bed, discarding the barrier of clothes between them, Harrison made love to her._

He still remembered the promise, after all this time and knew she had never broken it; the necklace was always with her wherever they went... even on the day... Harrison shook his head clear of those thoughts, he did not want to think about that, not when he knew that she was right here with him now. What he did not know was that the necklace he held in his hands was a duplicate of the original; it had been so long since that night... so much had happened between then and the present day, he couldn't recall when exactly he made another one to replace what he'd lost. This time, it was the beeping of his watch which reminded him not to dwell too much on the past and focus on the present. Harrison didn't need to check to know that it was almost morning, he could see that the sky was finally starting to lighten and when he looked over to the balcony, he wasn't surprised to know that was where she had gone; sensing his gaze on her, she turned around and beckoned him closer; soon he leaned against the french doors as he stood behind her this time and lazily wrapped his arms around her waist with her back to his chest. Sunrise's were something special between them as well, the only difference was that this time, Harrison couldn't stop the memory which filled his mind... of their last sunrise together.

_It had been more than two years now and Harrison was finally at a place in his life where he had everything that one could hope for in times like this. Things were improving slowly, they were not better but the situation was no longer as dire and helpless as before. He had been named lead scientist on the latest project that was being developed only a few short weeks ago and his wife was officially in charge of caring for all those who still needed their help. He had married the woman he loved over the summer and was so proud of everything that they had accomplished together; she was more than just his lover, she was his partner, his equal, his better half... his life. And whenever they had the chance, the two of them would sneak away for some alone time, it didn't matter if it was during the sunset, sunrise or just at some point at night when they could lay under the open sky together, watching the stars above. That morning, Harrison remembered things were tense all around the compound where he was working out of, he had not slept much and vaguely kept thinking about a strange dream he'd had during the night; even though he couldn't remember anything at all, the sense of foreboding he'd woken up with was still weighing on his mind when the secret message for a early morning rendezvous had been slipped under the door. He had gotten changed immediately and quietly made his way to the roof of the main building where she was waiting for him. The sky was dark but he had seen faint signs of light starting to break through the clouds... he had greeted her with a kiss before she sat down at the edge against the railings, taking Harrison's head in her lap as she gathered up the courage to talk to him about something life-altering; all he knew was that it was important and she couldn't wait until later to talk to him... and now that they were here alone, he could sense her anxiousness and had sat up to take both her hands in his, telling her that whatever it was, they would face it together... neither one would have expected an assault on the camp would take place at a time like this... when both of them were unprepared... when there was no way of defending each other from what was about to devastate their lives forever... they had come for her. Harrison had put up a fight, he would have died saving her life but she had stopped that final blow... he had been beaten, stabbed, cut, sliced, possibly even shot but in that moment when she bargained for him to live in exchange for being taken... he felt something inside being crushed... he was broken... the last words he would ever hear from her ringing in his ears but never truly understood until it was too late. _

She had said that she would always love him and no matter what happened to her, he was meant for something much more important than everything else, she had whispered Barry Allen's name in his ear before they took her away. That was it; nothing more needed to be said; Harrison might not have understood his wife's words back then, but today he knew exactly how important her sacrifice was. She had always been the kind of a person who would put everyone in the world before herself, even if she was in a higher position than the others whom she helped, she never saw herself as being better than them or distinguished between human or meta-human, not when she was one of the latter. It was moments like this when Harrison found himself wondering if everything had been just a dream, of all the people in the world, he had fallen in love with a meta-human; he never saw her differently from the very first day and only loved her more when she revealed the truth to him, he had told her that as long as they were together, he would never regret anything that he did for as long as he was alive.

That was a lifetime ago, a different time, when Harrison Wells was nothing like the man he was today; cold and closed-off, uncaring about many people, hardened, emotionless... but after everything he had been through, because he knew that she was here in his arms, he had no regrets in his life. Not unless... he always tried to avoid thinking about this... that last day when he had spent with her... that morning of the sunrise... when she had wanted to tell him something important. She never got the chance to tell him what it was. Harrison knew it was pointless to think about what might have been, but there were times when he wondered... what if... their little family of two would have grown to be three or four or more someday? Without knowing that he had stepped back from his hold on her, he was taken aback when she had reached up to touch his cheek and... brush away an unshed tear... she was always the one who knew what was wrong with him even before he was aware. The smile on her face was still as bright as ever when the first rays of the morning's sunrise shone through the sky and Harrison knew the time had come; standing on her toes as she kissed him for the first and last time since that night, she touched his heart again. It was a reminder for him, even after all this time, she loved him and always would be there whenever he needed her; since she lived in his heart. and if he could see her, then it was easy to fool himself into believing for one night that he could also touch her and hold her and dance with her and hug her and kiss her. He would do it every single night if it meant that she was never truly gone.

"Goodbye, my love." Harrison whispered softly to the morning air all around, knowing he was alone and talking only to himself.

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><p><strong>Tissues anyone? Nope...? Good! More for me then! How about reviews instead? ;)<strong>


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